1- for Immediate Release PRESS RELEASE 11 July 2018 PR

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

1- for Immediate Release PRESS RELEASE 11 July 2018 PR For immediate release PRESS RELEASE 11 July 2018 PR/CP(2018)074 BRUSSELS SUMMIT DECLARATION Issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels 11-12 July 2018 1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the 29 member nations of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Brussels at a time when the security of our nations and the rules-based international order are being challenged. NATO will continue to strive for peace, security, and stability in the whole of the Euro-Atlantic area. We are united in our commitment to the Washington Treaty, the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), and the vital transatlantic bond. We are determined to protect and defend our indivisible security, our freedom, and our common values, including individual liberty, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. NATO remains the foundation for strong collective defence and the essential transatlantic forum for security consultations and decisions among Allies. The Alliance will continue to pursue a 360-degree approach to security and to fulfil effectively all three core tasks as set out in the Strategic Concept: collective defence, crisis management, and cooperative security. NATO is a defensive Alliance. NATO’s greatest responsibility is to protect and defend our territory and our populations against attack. Any attack against one Ally will be regarded as an attack against us all, as set out in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. We will continue to stand together and act together, on the basis of solidarity, shared purpose, and fair burden-sharing. 2. We face a dangerous, unpredictable, and fluid security environment, with enduring challenges and threats from all strategic directions; from state and non-state actors; from military forces; and from terrorist, cyber, and hybrid attacks. Russia’s aggressive actions, including the threat and use of force to attain political goals, challenge the Alliance and are undermining Euro-Atlantic security and the rules- based international order. Instability and continuing crises across the Middle East and North Africa are fuelling terrorism. They also contribute to irregular migration and human trafficking. The ongoing crisis in Syria has a direct effect on the stability of the region and the security of the Alliance as a whole. We face hybrid challenges, including disinformation campaigns and malicious cyber activities. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced missile technology also continues to threaten the security of our nations. In light of all this, our unity and solidarity are stronger than ever; we will take all necessary steps to ensure our collective defence. -1- 3. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all aspects of the Defence Investment Pledge agreed at the 2014 Wales Summit, and to submit credible national plans on its implementation, including the spending guidelines for 2024, planned capabilities, and contributions. Fair burden sharing underpins the Alliance’s cohesion, solidarity, credibility, and ability to fulfil our Article 3 and Article 5 commitments. We welcome the considerable progress made since the Wales Summit with four consecutive years of real growth in non-US defence expenditure. All Allies have started to increase the amount they spend on defence in real terms and some two-thirds of Allies have national plans in place to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product on defence by 2024. More than half of Allies are spending more than 20% of their defence expenditures on major equipment, including related research and development, and, according to their national plans, 24 Allies will meet the 20% guideline by 2024. Allies are delivering more of the heavier, high-end capabilities we require and are improving the readiness, deployability, sustainability, and interoperability of their forces. The number of activities in which we are engaged has increased, and Allies continue to make valuable force and capability contributions that benefit the security of the Euro- Atlantic area through NATO’s operations, missions, and other activities, as well as through the operations and missions conducted under national authority and the authority of other organisations. As we take stock of the national plans that exist today, we appreciate the unprecedented progress and recognise that much work still remains. We are committed to improving the balance of sharing the costs and responsibilities of Alliance membership. 4. For over two decades, NATO has worked to build a partnership with Russia, including through the mechanism of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). Russia’s recent activities and policies have reduced stability and security, increased unpredictability, and changed the security environment. While NATO stands by its international commitments, Russia has breached the values, principles and commitments which underpin the NATO-Russia relationship, as outlined in the 1997 Basic Document of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the 1997 NATO- Russia Founding Act, and 2002 Rome Declaration, broken the trust at the core of our cooperation, and challenged the fundamental principles of the global and Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Decisions we have taken are fully consistent with our international commitments, and therefore cannot be regarded by anyone as contradicting the NATO-Russia Founding Act. 5. We reaffirm our decisions towards Russia agreed at the Wales and Warsaw Summits. We continue to respond to the deteriorated security environment by enhancing our deterrence and defence posture, including by a forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. We have also suspended all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia, while remaining open to political dialogue. NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia. 6. The Euro-Atlantic security environment has become less stable and predictable as a result of Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea and ongoing destabilisation of eastern Ukraine; its military posture and provocative military activities, including near NATO borders, such as the deployment of modern dual- capable missiles in Kaliningrad, repeated violation of NATO Allied airspace, and the continued military build-up in Crimea; its significant investments in the modernisation of its strategic forces; its irresponsible and aggressive nuclear rhetoric; its large-scale, no-notice snap exercises; and the growing number of its -2- exercises with a nuclear dimension. This is compounded by Russia’s continued violation, non-implementation, and circumvention of numerous obligations and commitments in the realm of arms control and confidence- and security-building measures. Russia is also challenging Euro-Atlantic security and stability through hybrid actions, including attempted interference in the election processes, and the sovereignty of our nations, as was the case in Montenegro, widespread disinformation campaigns, and malicious cyber activities. We condemn the attack using a military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury, United Kingdom and note the independent confirmation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the nerve agent used. The UK assesses that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation was responsible for the attack and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. We stand in solidarity with the UK in its assessment. 7. We reiterate our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova within their internationally recognised borders. In accordance with its international commitments, we call on Russia to withdraw the forces it has stationed in all three countries without their consent. We strongly condemn Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, which we do not and will not recognise. The discrimination against the Crimean Tatars and members of other local communities must end. International monitoring structures must be allowed to carry out their essential work in view of the protection of human rights. We call for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements by all sides, and support the efforts of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. NATO’s response is in support of this overall effort, which includes sanctions as decided by the European Union (EU), the G7, and others, to promote a peaceful solution to the conflict and to address Russia’s actions. We urge Russia to cease all political, financial, and military support to militant groups and stop intervening militarily in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and to withdraw troops, equipment, and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine, and return to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination. We are deeply concerned by the use of torture and the transfer of Ukrainian citizens to prisons in Russia. We stress the importance of the safety and full and unhindered access for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission, up to and including the Russia-Ukraine border. We call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia as independent states; to implement the EU-mediated 12 August 2008 ceasefire, particularly the withdrawal of Russian forces from the territory of Georgia; to end its militarisation of these regions; and to stop the construction of border-like obstacles. We also call on Russia to withdraw its troops from the territory of the
Recommended publications
  • Minsk II a Fragile Ceasefire
    Briefing 16 July 2015 Ukraine: Follow-up of Minsk II A fragile ceasefire SUMMARY Four months after leaders from France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia reached a 13-point 'Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements' ('Minsk II') on 12 February 2015, the ceasefire is crumbling. The pressure on Kyiv to contribute to a de-escalation and comply with Minsk II continues to grow. While Moscow still denies accusations that there are Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly admitted in March 2015 to having invaded Crimea. There is mounting evidence that Moscow continues to play an active military role in eastern Ukraine. The multidimensional conflict is eroding the country's stability on all fronts. While the situation on both the military and the economic front is acute, the country is under pressure to conduct wide-reaching reforms to meet its international obligations. In addition, Russia is challenging Ukraine's identity as a sovereign nation state with a wide range of disinformation tools. Against this backdrop, the international community and the EU are under increasing pressure to react. In the following pages, the current status of the Minsk II agreement is assessed and other recent key developments in Ukraine and beyond examined. This briefing brings up to date that of 16 March 2015, 'Ukraine after Minsk II: the next level – Hybrid responses to hybrid threats?'. In this briefing: • Minsk II – still standing on the ground? • Security-related implications of the crisis • Russian disinformation
    [Show full text]
  • NATO Enlargement Reloaded
    Research Paper Research Division - NATO Defense College, Rome - No. 81 – September 2012 NATO Enlargement Reloaded by Karl-Heinz Kamp 1 The dispute about who will become a new NATO member and when is Contents set to make it back on the transatlantic agenda. Debates in the Alliance have for years been dominated by the operations in Afghanistan or the Two Difficult Membership evolution of NATO’s partnership approach, but now the enlargement Applicants 2 question is coming up again and might lead to strong disagreements The Roots of the Debate 3 among the allies. All NATO nations certainly concur that the door for Russia and Enlargement 4 new members should remain open; the question is which countries Georgia in NATO – Pros and Cons 5 should join the Alliance, and when? How to Deal With the Membership Question? 7 At NATO’s Chicago Summit in May 2012, US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton suggested that Chicago should be the last NATO summit not explicitly focusing on enlargement.2 From this statement, which went largely unnoticed by the public, it can be logically inferred that all forthcoming summits should deal with inviting new members to join NATO, showing the degree of emphasis the US government is set to place on the enlargement issue in the coming years. Even if a statement of this kind in Chicago – in the midst of the presidential campaign and at the first NATO summit on US territory since 1999 – is partly directed to a domestic audience, it still shows the current Research Paper mood in US political circles: NATO enlargement is regarded as a ISSN 2076 - 0949 unique benefit, and the United States sees itself as the spearhead of (Res.
    [Show full text]
  • 10 Years After Bucharest Why NATO Should Double-Down on Georgian
    C - 0; M - 95; Y - 100; K - 2; PANTONE 485 CP C - 0; M - 98; Y - 91; K - 30; PANTONE 7621 CP C - 0; M - 97; Y - 87; K - 60; PANTONE 7624 CP POLICY BRIEF EUROPE IN THE WORLD PROGRAMME 3 JULY 2018 10 years after Bucharest Why NATO should Amanda Paul Senior Policy Analyst, EPC double-down on Ana Andguladze Georgian membership Policy Researcher, ISPED 2018 is a momentous year for Georgia: it marks the interest to strengthen ties with Tbilisi. As a reliable 100th anniversary of the first Democratic Republic of partner that shares common interests and values, the Georgia. It is also the 10th anniversary of the war with country offers the West a strategic foothold in the South Russia (August 2008) and of the Bucharest Summit, Caucasus. The Alliance must reaffirm its membership when Tbilisi was promised a seat at NATO’s table. commitment and reiterate that no third country has a veto on its enlargement. It should further deepen A decade on, NATO-Georgia cooperation has practical cooperation and bolster Georgia’s ability substantially deepened. The country now meets to defend itself. Reaffirming NATO’s support would NATO standards in many areas: it has modernised its reassure Georgian society, boost reform efforts and move armed forces and interoperability between Georgian the country ever closer to the Alliance. troops and the armies of NATO countries has increased. Georgia has contributed more to international NATO missions than many existing members and also meets the Alliance’s defence spending target. Tbilisi has also undertaken reforms to strengthen democracy, eradicate Georgia has contributed more to corruption and ensure civilian control of the military.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Hybrid Tactics in Georgia
    Russian Hybrid Tactics in Georgia Niklas Nilsson SILK ROAD PAPER January 2018 Russian Hybrid Tactics in Georgia Niklas Nilsson © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program – A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center American Foreign Policy Council, 509 C St NE, Washington D.C. Institute for Security and Development Policy, V. Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka, Sweden www.silkroadstudies.org “Russian Hybrid Tactics in Georgia” is a Silk Road Paper published by the Central Asia- Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, Joint Center. The Silk Road Papers Series is the Occasional Paper series of the Joint Center, and addresses topical and timely subjects. The Joint Center is a transatlantic independent and non-profit research and policy center. It has offices in Washington and Stockholm and is affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council and the Institute for Security and Development Policy. It is the first institution of its kind in Europe and North America, and is firmly established as a leading research and policy center, serving a large and diverse community of analysts, scholars, policy-watchers, business leaders, and journalists. The Joint Center is at the forefront of research on issues of conflict, security, and development in the region. Through its applied research, publications, research cooperation, public lectures, and seminars, it functions as a focal point for academic, policy, and public discussion regarding the region. The opinions and conclusions expressed in this study are those of
    [Show full text]
  • NATO's 60Th Anniversary Summit
    NATO’s 60th Anniversary Summit Paul Belkin, Coordinator Analyst in European Affairs Carl Ek Specialist in International Relations Lisa Mages Information Research Specialist Derek E. Mix Analyst in European Affairs April 14, 2009 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40454 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress NATO’s 60th Anniversary Summit Summary On April 3 and 4, 2009, the heads of state and government of the 26 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) met in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany for a summit marking the 60th anniversary of the alliance. The summit was one of three stops on President Obama’s first official visit to Europe as President. Alliance leaders used the anniversary summit to pay tribute to NATO’s past achievements and to reaffirm their commitment to the alliance as the preeminent transatlantic security framework. They also completed a new round of NATO enlargement, sought common positions on the range of challenges currently facing the alliance, and began to set the parameters for NATO’s future direction. The key issue facing the alliance is the ongoing mission in Afghanistan, where allied governments are struggling to reach a strategic consensus on how to stabilize the country. The deteriorating security situation in the country has caused many to question the ability of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to achieve its objectives and has exposed rifts within the alliance as to ISAF’s mission and the appropriate means to accomplish it. NATO’s strained relations with Russia are a second key issue.
    [Show full text]
  • Reducing Nuclear Risks in Europe a FRAMEWORK for ACTION
    Reducing A FrAmework For Action Nuclear Risks e dited by Steve AndreASen in Europe And iSAbelle williAmS Featured essay: “the race between ­Cooperation and catastrophe” by sam NuNN Reducing Nuclear Risks in Europe a FrameWork For acTIoN Edit eD by STeve aNDreaSeN aND ISabelle WIllIamS Featured essay: “The race between ­Cooperation and catastrophe” by sam NuNN Nuclear ThreaT INITIaTIve Washington, D.c. t he Nuclear threat INItIatIve NTI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and to work to build the trust, transparency, and security that are preconditions to the ultimate fulfillment of the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s goals and ambitions. www.nti.org The views expressed in this publication are the authors’ own and do not reflect those of NTI, its Board of Directors, or other institutions with which the authors are associated. © 2011 the Nuclear Threat Initiative All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher and copyright holder. c over phoTo oF a u.S. aIr Force F-16 FIghTINg FalcoN aIrcraFT courTeSy oF The u.S. aIr Force. phoTo by maSTer SgT. WIllIam greer/releaSeD. ii T able oF coNTeNTS Acknowledgments v Authors and Reviewers vii summary coNteNt executive summary: Reassembling a More Credible NATO Nuclear Policy and Posture 1 Joan Rohlfing, Isabelle Williams, and Steve Andreasen featured essay: The Race Between Cooperation and Catastrophe 8 Sam Nunn chaPters 1.
    [Show full text]
  • NATO Partnerships and the Arab Spring: Achievements and Perspectives for the 2012 Chicago Summit by Isabelle François
    TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVES 1 NATO Partnerships and the Arab Spring: Achievements and Perspectives for the 2012 Chicago Summit by Isabelle François Center for Transatlantic Security Studies Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Center for Transatlantic Security Studies Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Center for Transatlantic Security Studies (CTSS) serves as a national and international focal point and resource center for multi- disciplinary research on issues relating to transatlantic security. The Center provides recommendations to senior U.S. and inter- national government and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, publishes its research, and conducts a broad range of out- reach activities to inform the broader U.S. national and transatlantic security community. CTSS develops and conducts education and orientation programs for U.S. and allied military officers, government civilians, and interna- tional partners on issues relating to NATO and transatlantic security and defense. In partnership with both U.S. and international govern- ments and with academic and private sector institutions engaged in transatlantic security issues, the Center builds robust and mutually beneficial relationships. Cover: Chicago Skyline from Lake Michigan Photo by Esben Ehrenskjold NATO Partnerships and the Arab Spring: Achievements and Perspectives for the 2012 Chicago Summit NATO Partnerships and the Arab Spring: Achievements and Perspectives for the 2012 Chicago Summit By Isabelle François Center for Transatlantic Security Studies Institute for National Strategic Studies Transatlantic Perspectives, No. 1 National Defense University Press Washington, D.C. December 2011 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or any other agency of the Federal Government.
    [Show full text]
  • Info Document on Nato Summit
    214 SESA 18 E Original: English Annual Session KEY OUTCOMES OF THE SUMMIT OF NATO HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT HELD IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, ON 11-12 JULY 2018 Information document www.nato-pa.int October 2018 214 SESA 18 E TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 II. NATO’S MISSION & VALUES .............................................................................. 2 III. THREAT ENVIRONMENT.................................................................................... 3 IV. PRIORITIES ......................................................................................................... 3 A. BURDEN SHARING ............................................................................................. 3 B. DETERRENCE AND COLLECTIVE DEFENCE, AND RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA ................................................................................................................ 7 1. Relations with Russia ........................................................................................... 7 2. Collective Defence and Deterrence ...................................................................... 7 C. PROJECTING STABILITY AND COMBATTING TERRORISM .......................... 10 D. MODERNISING THE ALLIANCE ....................................................................... 11 E. NATO-EU COOPERATION ................................................................................ 12 V. 70TH ANNIVERSARY AND 2019 .......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates
    NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates Vincent Morelli Section Research Manager Carl Ek Specialist in International Relations Paul Belkin Analyst in European Affairs Steven Woehrel Specialist in European Affairs Jim Nichol Specialist in Russian and Eurasian Affairs April 14, 2009 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL34701 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates Summary At the April 2-4, 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, a principal issue was consideration of the candidacies for membership of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia. The allies agreed to extend invitations to Albania and Croatia. Although the alliance determined that Macedonia met the qualifications for NATO membership, Greece blocked the invitation due to an enduring dispute over Macedonia’s name. After formal accession talks, on July 9, 2008, the foreign ministers of Albania and Croatia and the permanent representatives of the 26 NATO allies signed accession protocols amending the North Atlantic Treaty to permit Albania and Croatia’s membership in NATO. To take effect, the protocols had to be ratified, first by current NATO members, then by Albania and Croatia. On April 1, 2009, the two countries formally became the 27th and 28th members of the Alliance when the Ambassadors of the two nations deposited the ratified instruments of accession at the State Department. On April 4, 2009, Albania and Croatia were welcomed to the NATO table at a ceremony held at the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France. Both nations are small states with correspondingly small militaries, and their inclusion in NATO cannot be considered militarily strategic.
    [Show full text]
  • NATO Summit Warsaw 2016: a Primer
    BRIEFING PAPER Number 7640, 4 July 2016 NATO Summit Warsaw By Louisa Brooke-Holland 2016: a primer Summary The NATO summit in Poland begins on Friday 8 July 2016. The Secretary General of NATO expects it to be a ‘landmark’ summit. NATO faces challenges on two fronts: to the east from Russia and to the south from ongoing conflict in Middle East and North Africa. The Summit will see NATO adopt further measures, building on those made at its previous summit in 2014, to deter Russia from any militarily aggression against its members. This includes the deployment of four multinational battalions to the Baltic States and Poland (one of which will be led by the UK). In addition the summit will discuss how the Alliance address instability in North Africa and the Middle East, including countering Daesh/ISIS and the refugee and migration crisis. This will include a joint statement with the EU. Members are expected to reaffirm the commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence. Other topics include missile defence and cyberspace as an operational domain. Montenegro will be at the Summit as an observer nation, while it awaits the formalities of joining NATO as the 29th member of the Alliance to be completed. Key information Poland hosts the next summit meeting of NATO heads of state and government in Warsaw on 8-9th July. Decisions are issued in declarations and communiqués throughout the two day summit. The last summit hosted by the UK in Newport in Wales in September 2014. Defence and Foreign Ministers of the 28 members of the Alliance meet regularly between summits.
    [Show full text]
  • Open PDF in New Window
    Research Paper Research Division – NATO Defense College, Rome – No. 121 – November 2015 Russia’s Renewed Military Thinking: Non-Linear Warfare and Reflexive Control by Can Kasapoglu1 Introduction: A Renewed Russian Military Thinking Since the Russo – Georgian War in 2008, the Russian Armed Forces’ new way of warfighting has been drawing attention. Especially following the The Research Division (RD) of the NATO De- fense College provides NATO’s senior leaders with Crimean campaign, which ended up with the illegal annexation of the sound and timely analyses and recommendations peninsula in March 2014, and given Moscow’s ongoing open and covert on current issues of particular concern for the Al- liance. Papers produced by the Research Division military activities in Eastern Ukraine and recently in Syria, many experts convey NATO’s positions to the wider audience of the international strategic community and con- started to focus their assessments on what they call Russia’s hybrid, or non- tribute to strengthening the Transatlantic Link. linear, warfare. On the other hand, there are also some voices in the Western The RD’s civil and military researchers come from strategic community advancing the analysis that Moscow’s understanding a variety of disciplines and interests covering a broad spectrum of security-related issues. They of non-linear warfare is simply an “attempt to catch up conceptually to the conduct research on topics which are of interest to the political and military decision-making bodies realities of modern war with which the United States has been grappling for of the Alliance and its member states. 2 over a decade in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.” The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Indeed, the Russian and the Western understandings of hybrid warfare North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the NATO Defense College.
    [Show full text]
  • NATO Summit Guide Brussels, 11-12 July 2018
    NATO Summit Guide Brussels, 11-12 July 2018 A stronger and more agile Alliance The Brussels Summit comes at a crucial moment for the security of the North Atlantic Alliance. It will be an important opportunity to chart NATO’s path for the years ahead. In a changing world, NATO is adapting to be a more agile, responsive and innovative Alliance, while defending all of its members against any threat. NATO remains committed to fulfilling its three core tasks: collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security. At the Brussels Summit, the Alliance will make important decisions to further boost security in and around Europe, including through strengthened deterrence and defence, projecting stability and fighting terrorism, enhancing its partnership with the European Union, modernising the Alliance and achieving fairer burden-sharing. This Summit will be held in the new NATO Headquarters, a modern and sustainable home for a forward-looking Alliance. It will be the third meeting of Allied Heads of State and Government chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. + Summit meetings + Member countries + Partners + NATO Secretary General Archived material – Information valid up to 10 July 2018 1 NATO Summit Guide, Brussels 2018 I. Strengthening deterrence and defence NATO’s primary purpose is to protect its almost one billion citizens and to preserve peace and freedom. NATO must also be vigilant against a wide range of new threats, be they in the form of computer code, disinformation or foreign fighters. The Alliance has taken important steps to strengthen its collective defence and deterrence, so that it can respond to threats from any direction.
    [Show full text]